Western Potash Corp.
Western Potash Corp. Ready to drill
A busy 2H2008 is ahead for Western Potash Corp. (TSX.V: WPX, FSE: AHE). The company has received its initial potash well licenses from Manitoba Science, Technology, Energy and Mines (STEM) thus graduating its operations from exploration to drilling. Wasting no time, Western Potash has mobilized a drill rig supplied by Ensign Drilling Partnership to the Company's Russell-Miniota Exploration Permits in Manitoba.
The Russell-Miniota permits comprise 555 square kilometers, and are adjacent to BHP Billiton's Potash Lease and Agrium's Exploration permits along the Manitoba border and are also within 13km of Saskatchewan Potash Corps's Rocanville potash mine. Rocanville is one of the lowest-cost potash production facilities in the world and has a capacity of 3.0 million tonnes KCl.
The Company plans to complete an initial five potash exploration wells with an option to extend the program by an additional 10 wells. All holes will be drilled vertically targeting the Prairie Evaporite formation, which will be conventionally cored using inverted drilling fluids to ensure that the salt and potash sequences are not dissolved. Seismic data and historic drilling which intersected potash with grades up to 20% K2O over 3.7m (gamma ray logs) indicate the property’s potential to host a potash deposit.
The Company is also obtaining permits and licenses to complete a $1.2 Million, 175 line km 2-D seismic survey on the property to assist in its interpretation of the salt and potash sequence in the area. Prospective salt beds indicated by these seismic surveys will be further tested with additional drilling as part of the ongoing exploration programmes. A further $5 Million Dollar exploration programme has been approved by Western's board for this initial drilling and seismic programme with a provision to expand the budget by an additional $5 Million Dollars.